RBS to leave its London headquarters in cost-cutting move

FILE PHOTO - People walk past a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland in London, Britain December 1, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

(Reuters) - Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc will leave its current London headquarters by the end of 2019 in a cost-cutting move, it said on Tuesday.

Many staff will transfer from the headquarters at 280 Bishopsgate in the City of London to another RBS building at 250 Bishopsgate, a bank statement said.

The remaining staff will move to other offices.

“As we become a simpler, smaller UK-focused bank and as we encourage more flexible ways of working, we no longer require the same amount of office space as we once did,” a company spokesperson said.

Britain's Telegraph newspaper reported the move earlier, saying RBS' old headquarters would be sold in what it said could be a test of the resilience of the capital's property market after Britain's decision to leave the European Union. (bit.ly/2E3CTy7)

State-backed RBS said towards the end of last year it will close around a quarter of its branches and cut 680 jobs as it cuts costs and encourages customers to use digital services, drawing criticism from lawmakers.